Carolinas HealthCare System: Inspiring Physician Leaders through Mentorship

The Carolinas HealthCare System Physician Leadership Mentoring Program identifies current and aspiring physician leaders and partners them with established senior physician leaders to enhance and cultivate the skills needed for an increasingly dynamic healthcare environment. The goals of this program are to build, develop, and diversify future physician leaders’ skills set, increase systems thinking and problem-solving and create opportunities for relationships and networking. The program framework includes a curriculum¹ uniquely focused on leadership competencies such as compelling communication, leading change, inspiring others, to name a few. This eighteen-month commitment creates a true experience for participants, including group sessions with outside speakers complemented by suggested discussion assignments² for their individual meetings with their partners. The expectation of participants is to meet at least monthly, in addition to quarterly group learning events and a community service project. The length of the program was developed intentionally to enable the participants to better develop and foster a relationship with their partner. Upon completion of a needs assessment, participants are matched by the program coordinator based on professional goals and interest. Participants begin their relationship by completing a “Partnership Agreement³.” This lays the foundation for a mutually beneficial mentoring relationship, including goal setting, establishing communication expectations and their individual meeting schedule. As physicians are embracing further expanded roles in leadership, the outcomes from this program illustrate the benefits of participating in a mentoring relationship. It provides a unique opportunity for growth and development and a strategy to retain and cultivate quality physician leaders.

Upon completion of this session, participants should be able to:

• Understand the business case for Mentorship for leadership development of physician leaders
• Learn how a structured mentoring program support physician leadership and development
• Learn how to develop a professional mentoring program for physician leaders